Barriers of cross-cultural interactions according to the research findings

Małgorzata Rozkwitalska

Transnational corporations (TNCs) are companies that encounter cultural barriers by their very nature. According to one of many definitions TNCs are entities that face the challenge of managing complex multi-environment system of multiple societies to balance sufficient unity and flexibility to adapt to varying circumstances [Westney D.E., Zaheer S. 2003, pp. 349-350]. To achieve their goals TNCs need, among other things, to overcome cultural barriers in managing foreign subsidiaries. Thus developing knowledge in this area is significant. There is a necessity to label major types of cultural barriers in theory and practice. Hence, this article presents a brief description of major problems in an intercultural setting with emphasis on the research findings in this matter. These are the aims of this thesis. At the same time, field researches that concentrate on cross-cultural issues in foreign subsidiaries, cultural barriers especially, are relatively rare.